Truth
by snappish79
Summary: Alternate ending to Vortex. Lana wants to know what Clark is always hiding and this time she won’t be backing down. Clana story. COMPLETED
1. Enough Is Enough

Description: Alternate ending to Vortex. Lana wants to know what Clark is always hiding and this time she won't be backing down. Clana story.  
  
Rating: It should be a PG deal unless otherwise marked. I do not plan to get too far into the gutters.  
  
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine.  
  
A/N: This is my first try at actually putting out a fanfic; so let me know what you think. Also " " means talking out loud and ' ' means to themselves.  
  
~Truth~  
  
"Just remember Clark, you can't hide up here forever." With that Lana Lang turned and walked down the loft stairs. She stopped at the bottom and waited.  
  
'He's not coming after me,' she thought grimly, tears starting to gather in her eyes, 'I can't believe he's going to leave it like that.' Just then she heard a quick rustling and footsteps running toward the stairs. Lana quickly started heading out the barn door hopefully he would not follow her. She didn't want him to see her like this. She didn't want him to know that all his lack of trust was killing her on the inside.  
  
"Lana!" Clark Kent yelled following her outside. "Lana wait!" Clark caught up with Lana, grabbed her arm, and turned her to face him. He was more than a little stunned to see her crying. "Lana, why are you crying? What's the matter?"  
  
"What's the matter?" She was almost yelling at him. "Clark you know what's the matter, I'm always telling you what's the matter, the problem is that you never tell me what's the matter with you! You go around expecting so much honesty from everyone else, but God forbid we ever expect to get any from you! I just want the truth Clark! For once, just tell me the truth!"  
  
By now she was yelling and there were so many tears that Clark almost lost all sense and told her everything. God knew he really wanted to; he wanted so badly to be able to share his life with someone. Sure, he could talk to his parents about it, but did they really understand what it was like to be so restricted at such a young age? No, and they never would. Lana was looking at him, willing him to tell her the one secret he could never tell anyone.  
  
Clark cupped Lana's face with his hands and gently started wiping away her tears from her face. He noticed the look of unexpectedness that crossed over Lana's face. Lana was quite surprised by Clark's actions. She never thought of Clark as the comforter, always fun and friendly and totally full of mystery. But this side fit him too. He was so gentle, his thumbs soothingly wiping the tears away from her eyes. Lana was so mesmerized by his actions that when Clark started leaning in to kiss her, she started to close her eyes.  
  
Clark's lips were almost touching hers when the back door of the Kent house opened up and Martha Kent was calling into the back yard, "Clark?"  
  
Clark would have laughed at his luck if it weren't always working against him. "Yeah Mom?"  
  
"Are you two alright? I thought I heard yelling."  
  
"We're OK Mom." 'Or I was doing OK, before you came out here,' he added to himself.  
  
"Just making sure, don't be out too late sweetheart." With that, Martha went back into the house.  
  
Clark turned back to Lana, but it was too late, the moment was gone. She was already recomposing herself and wiping away the last of her tears. "I guess I should be going," she said a bit hastily.  
  
"Do you want me to walk you home?" Clark asked hopefully.  
  
"No, I think I need some time alone, maybe we both do. I'll see you around Clark." With one last look at Clark, Lana headed home. She tried to sort out what she was feeling from her latest encounter with the mysterious Clark Kent. 


	2. Pep Talk Time

A/N: When we last left our young heroes, Lana wanted to know Clark's secret and Clark wanted to put the moves on Lana, both were untimely interrupted in their quests with the arrival of Clark's concerned Mother. Thanks for the feedback and now, on with the show.  
  
~Chapter 2~  
  
It had been two days since Lana's close encounter with Clark outside the barn and she still wasn't any closer to figuring out what had happened. One minute she was demanding he tell her the truth and the next she was almost kissing him. The thing that startled her the most was that she didn't mind *almost* kissing Clark. In fact, until his Mother interrupted them, she was kind of looking forward to it. Lana didn't dwell too long in these thoughts because she didn't want to think about where they were coming from or what they meant.  
  
The thing that she did mind was the fact that Clark was now avoiding her. When they passed each other in the hall, Clark pretended he didn't see her. If he Chloe and Pete were standing together talking and she walked up, he made up a reason he had to leave. She tried catching him at home, but his Mother informed him that he was over at Lex's house. Well, if Clark Kent thought that he could avoid her that easily, then he had another thing coming. Lana Lang wanted answers and she was going to get them. She just needed to figure out how.  
  
~~~  
  
"Clark, as much as I enjoy these visits from you, today I get the feeling that you are hiding out here more than you just stopped by to say hello," Lex Luthor said as they finished their third game of pool. "Why don't you just tell me what you are running away from?"  
  
Lex was right, Clark was hiding out. He didn't want to risk seeing Lana at his house. How could he have been so stupid as to try and kiss her? Not even twenty-four hours before, Whitney had been asking him to keep an eye on her. Somehow Clark knew that the night outside his house was not what Whitney had in mind. He just needed to get control over his feelings before he talked to Lana again.  
  
He also wanted to put some time between them so she'd forget about her mission for truth. He had been so close to telling her everything. He'd wanted to, badly. He knew that he couldn't tell anyone. To know his secret would only lead to trouble. Clark sighed wishing life could be simpler.  
  
"I'm kinda hiding out from Lana."  
  
"Lana Lang? Why on Earth could you possibly be hiding from her?"  
  
"Well, I almost kissed her the other night," Clark could feel himself blushing at his friends amazed stare."  
  
"Almost? I take it that our dear Lana didn't take to kindly to your ardent behavior," Lex said with a smile.  
  
"No, it isn't that, my Mom walked out and.er.interrupted us. She actually wasn't backing away," Clark could feel his face on fire. Maybe he shouldn't have brought this up.  
  
"So you're telling me that you almost kissed your dream girl who wanted to kiss you back, your Mother ruined it, and now you are hiding our from Lana? Explain to me why because this really doesn't make sense, I thought you'd be on cloud nine," Lex said as he poured himself a drink.  
  
"It's not that simple Lex," Clark started to explain, "Lana is still with Whitney, and Whitney wanted me to keep an eye on Lana while he is away. I don't think that would fall under the job description Whitney had in mind."  
  
"Clark, you admitted it yourself, Lana wasn't backing away. Don't you think that maybe that means something? Whatever it means, do you think that you are going to figure it out by hiding out from Lana?" Lex walked over to Clark and put a hand on his shoulder. "You need to find out what that night meant for both of you. Talk to her, you need to find out."  
  
"You're right Lex, Lana wasn't backing away," realization finally dawned on Clark, "that means.she wanted me to kiss her." Clark's face lit up, "I've got to go Lex, I've got to talk to Lana."  
  
"Go get her Champ," Lex called as his friend left the room, "and good luck." 'He's going to need it,' Lex thought to himself.  
  
~~~  
  
A/N: This was the obligatory avoidance chapter. You can't have all that action in the back yard and go back to being all honky dory can you? Don't worry, they'll be back together in the next chapter. 


	3. It's Complicated

A/N: So Clark got a little pep talk from Lex and is ready to seek out Lana. Of course, Lana has been brushed off by Clark for the past two days. Somehow I don't think she's going to be as happy to see Clark.  
  
~Chapter 3~  
  
Lana was closing up the Talon when Clark walked in. Her heart skipped a beat as he walked purposefully toward her. She didn't stop to think about what that meant, because she was angry. "Clark, I must say that I'm surprised to see you here, especially since you've been ignoring me these past two days." She went back to wiping down tables, turning her back on him.  
  
"Lana, I'm sorry," Clark tried to move around her so that he could see her face, but every time he moved Lana moved as well, turning her back on him again. "Lana, could you stop for a minute and look at me."  
  
"That's it," Lana said throwing the cloth on the table she was cleaning. She turned around and glared at Clark. He had some nerve coming in here like this. He honestly thought he could waltz in here say they needed to talk and she'd just drop everything for him. "You've really got some nerve Clark. Two days you've ignored me, TWO DAYS! Now YOU'VE decided that we need to talk and I'm supposed to give you my undivided attention. Well, now is not a good time for me! Please see yourself out!" Lana turned back to wiping down her tables.  
  
"Lana, please listen to me, I'm sorry I've hurt you, but I didn't know what else to do. I was scared."  
  
Lana stopped wiping and turned around to face Clark. She was still angry with him, but she understood what he was saying. She was scared too. Scared of what almost happened, scared of what it could mean, scared of how it had made her feel.  
  
When she tried to think of Whitney, she felt nothing. Actually, the more she thought about it, the more she felt that the hug at the bus station was just a good-bye hug between friends, and nothing more. When she thought of Clark and the way his hands caressed her face, her heart fluttered and that's what scared her most. She was falling for a guy who didn't trust her. Who couldn't give her honest answers.  
  
"Clark, I can understand that, but don't you think that what happened scared me too? You're my best friend and I don't want anything to come between our relationship, but don't you feel like something has? Being with you is like having an elephant in the room, we both know it's there, but we can't talk about it."  
  
"Lana, it's not that I don't want to talk to you," Clark said shuffling his feet and putting his hands in his pockets, "it's just that it's complicated."  
  
"Oh, well that's just great," Lana said turning back to her tables, "when I have a problem, it's let's talk it out, but with you it's complicated. Well let me uncomplicated things for you, friends are there for each other no matter what Clark, and what happened the other night leads me to believe that you want to be more than just friends, but you can't have any kind of relationship without trust and face it Clark," Lana turned and looked him in the eye, "you don't trust me." Lana finished wiping down the tables and started heading back into the kitchen to clean the cloths off.  
  
Clark stood there staring after her. This wasn't going as well as he had hoped. He turned around and walked out the door.  
  
Lana came back out of the kitchen more than a little surprised and annoyed that Clark wasn't there. 'Of course when the conversation gets too intense he disappears,' Lana thought to herself as she continued to clean off the counter and coffee machine. Just then the front door opened and Lana looked up thinking that Clark was back for round two. However, as she looked at the gun pointed at her face, she wished that it was just Clark she had to deal with.  
  
~~~  
  
A/N: I know you were all wondering how Lana was going to learn about Clark's powers and now you know! I mean it wasn't like Clark could just tell her! But the question is, what will Lana do now that she is going to have the answers to those questions she kept asking? 


	4. The Truth Comes Out

A/N: Alas, our young hero has deserted his love in her time of need! Of course young Clark saves the girl in just a nick of time, but then there's the bigger problem.  
  
~Chapter 4~  
  
Clark walked down the street. He didn't know what to do. Everything was falling apart with Lana. All he wanted to do was go and talk things out with Lana. He had no idea that she was so upset with him. Of course he understood why she was upset with him. He did expect her to be open with him when he was too afraid to be honest with her. He was such a hypocrite.  
  
Clark knew that he couldn't leave it at that. He had to try to fix things with Lana. He didn't know how, but he had to go and try. Clark turned around and headed back to the Talon. On his way he tried to think of what he would say to Lana to try to make things right. Clark slowed his pace as he neared the Talon. He wanted to see what kind of mood Lana was in since he left her during their last conversation.  
  
What he saw through the window made his heart stop. A man was in the Talon with a gun pointed at Lana as he shoved a bag at her. 'My God! She's being robbed! How could I have left her!' With his super speed, Clark ran to the back door of the Talon and slipped in. As he slowly crept to the kitchen door, he could hear the robber yelling at Lana.  
  
"Just put the money in the bag and do it quickly!" he yelled at her. Clark's mind raced as he tried to figure out what to do. He pushed open the door open and could see Lana stuffing the contents of the register into the bag. When she was done, the assailant grabbed her arm and dragged a weeping Lana to a near by chair. He put her in the chair and started wrapping her wrists with masking tape.  
  
Clark decided that now was his chance to act. He pushed open the door and stepped through. "Leave her alone!"  
  
The robber turned to him, pulling his gun on Clark. "Don't take another step, kid. This is no time for heroics, hotshot. Now, back off before someone gets hurt." Clark took another step towards him. "Stop right there! Maybe you don't care about your life, but do you want anything to happen to cutie over here?" he asked turning the gun on Lana.  
  
Clark stopped dead in his tracks. He looked over at Lana's terrified face and knew he had to do something fast. Without thinking, Clark used his super speed to race over to the attacker and grabbing the arm holding the gun. The amazed invader struggled with Clark. Clark managed to pull the gun down away from Lana.  
  
Lana watched the two men struggle and she tried to free her wrists from the tape. Clark had the man's arm and pulled the gun down, but know it was aiming at Clark. Lana prayed that Clark would be safe. Suddenly a shot rang out and Lana screamed. At that same moment Clark pulled the man's arm up and he pulled the trigger again. The bullet ricocheted off of the lamp over head and the attacker dropped to the floor, blood pouring out of his head.  
  
Clark ran over to Lana and tore the tape off of her hands. He picked Lana up from the chair and carried her into the kitchen. Placing her down he asked, "Are you OK?"  
  
Lana was shaken over what happened with the robber. She couldn't believe what she had seen. Clark had moved with lightening speed and more amazing than that, his shirt had a bullet hole in it, but there was no blood coming out of Clark.  
  
Clark left her standing there to go and call the police. He came back to Lana. "How . this is impossible . " Lana couldn't form coherent sentences, she could hardly think. "Oh my God . this is the secret . " Lana took a step away from Clark.  
  
"Lana, wait . please, you have to let me explain, and I will, but the police are going to be here any minute and you have to promise me you won't say anything about what happened to me," Clark explained as he zipped up his sweater covering up the bullet hole.  
  
Lana couldn't think, so this was Clark's big secret. She looked at him, now he needed her to hide his secret. He looked so worried that she wouldn't keep his secret. She needed time to think, but as she heard the sirens getting closer she realized that time was something she did not have. She weakly nodded her head in agreement.  
  
"Thank you Lana. I promise, I'll explain everything to you after, but for now, let's just get through the police questioning.  
  
The next hour went by as a blur to Lana. They told the police that the bullet ricocheted off the lamp and not one word was mentioned about the shot Clark took. Clark picked up the smashed bullet that fell off his body and put it in his pocket. Finally Clark asked if he and Lana could go and the sheriff said they could.  
  
"I'll be in touch if we need anything else."  
  
Clark walked Lana home in silence. Neither of them knew what to say. Lana finally broke the silence when they reached her house, "So the reason I thought I saw you in the twister it was really because you were in the twister. This was you big secret. This is how you were always there to save me. I want to thank you for always saving me. But Clark, I can't believe that you never told me this. All this time you've lied to me. I asked you straight out about the tornado and you lied to me. How can you call us friends when you've lied to me and you've proven that you don't trust me."  
  
"Lana, please, let me explain," Clark started.  
  
"There's no need Clark, I've got all the answers I need." With that Lana walked into her house leaving Clark standing on her porch.  
  
~~~  
  
A/N: So Lana got her answers but they weren't the kind she wanted. Now what? I don't know yet because I haven't written it yet. But don't worry because it will all have a happy ending! Our heroes will prevail! Next chapter coming soon! 


	5. Time To Think

A/N: OK kiddies, here's where we left off. Clark saved Lana's life and in the process reveled his deep dark secret. Now Lana is uber pissed because of all the lies. Now it's time for reflection on all events and it's time to see where things go from here. Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews; it's what keeps me going!  
  
~Chapter 5~  
  
When Clark walked into his house his Mother practically jumped on him. "Clark where in the world have you been, it is past midnight. Are you all right?"  
  
"Son, your Mother and I were worried sick about you. Where have you been?" his father asked.  
  
"Mom, Dad, I'm all right. There was a problem at the Talon." Clark quickly told his parents about the robbery. "The problem now is that I had to use my powers in front of Lana," Clark finished.  
  
"Oh honey," his mother said sitting next to him and putting her arm around him, "what did she say? Did you stress to her the importance of keeping this secret?"  
  
"She didn't give me a chance," Clark said dejectedly, "we didn't talk the whole time I walked her home and she was upset because I lied to her and I didn't get a chance to talk to her. I have to talk to her though, I have to explain everything, make her understand."  
  
"Son, you've had a rough night. Why don't you get some sleep and try talking to Lana tomorrow. There's nothing more you can do tonight," Jonathan told Clark.  
  
"You're right Dad, I'll try talking to Lana tomorrow," Clark said standing up, "good night Mom, good night Dad. Clark headed up to his room and changed his clothes. How could things have gotten so screwed up he wondered as he fingered the hole in his shirt. Clark sat on his bed; he had no idea what to do next.  
  
Lana was furious with him. She had called him a liar and that's exactly what he was. He lied to everyone day after day. Even with Lana's new contempt toward him, he felt relieved. The fact that someone else knew about him made him feel as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Never mind that the person who knew his secret wouldn't talk to him. Somehow he knew things had to work out. He just didn't know how.  
  
Clark settled in his bead and got ready to go to sleep. Somehow he knew that sleep would not come easily to him tonight.  
  
~~~  
  
"If you need anything else honey just let me know," Nell told Lana as she entered her room, "good night sweetie."  
  
Lana closed the door to her bedroom and just stood there. She had told Nell what had happened at the Talon leaving out the part about Clark. Now in her room by herself, all the emotion she had been holding back in the last few hours came to surface. She moved to her bed, sat, and cried. So much had happened in such a short amount of time and she had no idea what to think, or how to deal with this new information. Of course this is what she had wanted, she wanted the truth and now she had it.  
  
Back at the Talon, when Clark rushed into the room she had felt so relieved that he was there. He always saved her and she knew that if he were there then everything would be all right. Then when he sped to the attacker she had been amazed, but worry soon overtook her when Clark grabbed his arm. She had been so worried that Clark would get hurt. If anything had happened to him she didn't know what she would have done. And then Clark got shot. She thought she would have died right then and there, but Clark was fine. At first she thought that the bullet had missed him, but when Clark took her into the kitchen she realized that Clark had in fact been shot. But the bullet had bounced off of him; the only proof that it had even been shot at Clark was a crumpled shell Clark had taken and the hole in his shirt.  
  
If Lana thought that Clark had been an enigma before, she didn't even know what to classify him as now. She had so many new questions. She was furious at Clark. How could he never have told her this before? He out right lied to her on more than one occasion. He wanted trust and honesty and he never once gave any in return. How could she trust Clark? She would never get a straight answer from him and now she also had to deal with the shock of this latest information. Lana sighed and changed for bed. She walked over to her window and stared across the field at the Kent farm. Her head hurt from the events of the evening and she climbed into bed to try and get some sleep. Somehow she knew that wouldn't be coming anytime soon.  
  
~~~  
  
A/N: Another reflection chapter. There is so much drama going on, I love it! 


	6. Deja Vu

A/N: Clark and Lana had a night to think about the recent events that have happened in their lives. Lana goes to have a chat with Clark.  
  
~Chapter 6~  
  
Lana got up early the next morning. She hadn't slept well the night before. She dressed quickly with the intention of going over to see Clark. She figured that he wouldn't have slept well either and she wanted to talk to him. She headed out of her house and crossed the field to Clark's house. His Mother answered the door when she knocked.  
  
"Lana," she stepped outside and hugged Lana, "I'm so glad that you are all right."  
  
"Thank you Mrs. Kent. I'm glad that Clark and I are both all right as well. Is Clark here?"  
  
"He's out in the loft. Lana," Clark's Mother hesitated before continuing, "I know that this is hard, but I hope that you guys can work through this."  
  
Lana smiled and reached out to squeeze Mrs. Kent's hand before turning and heading toward the barn. She tried to keep her heart from racing as she walked over. She knew that he was still Clark. The same guy he was two days before. He was now just Clark with some extraordinary abilities. She saw Mr. Kent working on the tractor out by the field. He smiled at her as she walked past and she returned it. This wasn't easy for any of them.  
  
Lana sighed as she stepped into the barn. She climbed the steps and saw Clark sitting in a corner rolling the bullet around in his hand. "Hi," she said. Clark stood up and turned to face Lana.  
  
"Lana," he said a bit shocked, "I'm surprised to see you here."  
  
"Yeah, I thought you might be. I think that we need to talk. Clark I just -"  
  
"Wait Lana, please let me go first." Clark interrupted. "I'm sorry about the secrecy. I'm sorry that I lied to you, but you have to understand, I didn't want you to think of me any differently, look at me differently and as much as you might have told yourself you wouldn't have, you would. I didn't want you to think I was a freak. Never, not you ever." Clark started pacing as he continued, "I thought that if I avoided your questions I'd be safe. The lies I was telling you would keep me safe. I never expected them to push you away from me, to make them the reason you despised me."  
  
"Clark, I don't despise you," Lana cut back in. "I had a lot of time to think last night seeing as how I couldn't sleep at all." Lana walked over to Clark and took his hands. "I wanted so much to know what you were hiding that when I finally found out, I didn't think of what it meant for you. I selfishly thought of myself and how betrayed I felt. I wanted so much to be able to talk to Nell about what had happened, but I couldn't." Lana started crying again, "I couldn't talk to anyone about the most important thing that had happened. And then the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is what you go through everyday and you have no one else to share it with either."  
  
Clark smiled at Lana. "Lana, I understand."  
  
"No Clark, you don't understand. I kept telling you that you weren't being the good friend, when, in actuality, I was the one being a bad friend." Lana let go of Clark's hand and turned away. "I acted like a hypocrite. I'm so sorry Clark. I'm sorry." Lana turned and headed down the stairs.  
  
Clark didn't waste time, he went down with her and when she got to the bottom he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "Lana, don't say that, of course you are a good friend. You are here aren't you? Last night must have been such a shock to you and it was a lot to take in, but you helped me when the police got there without fail and you didn't say anything to anyone else. That proves to me that you are a great friend." Clark cupped her face and started wiping her tears away. "I only wish I had told you sooner and saved you this stress."  
  
Lana smiled at Clark through the tears, "This is like déjà vu."  
  
Clark smiled back, "Yea and this time my Mother isn't going to interrupt." Clark looked into Lana's eyes and leaned in. Lana closed her eyes and waited for Clark to finally kiss her. She felt her heart flutter as his lips finally met hers.  
  
Their kiss was a slow soft matting of lips. Lana's arms slide up Clark's chest and wrapped around his neck. Clark was rubbing his thumbs across her cheeks. Time seemed to stand still and it was as if no other people existed in the world except for the two people kissing in the barn. When they finally pulled away all Clark could say was "Wow."  
  
"Wow is right," Lana said her breath coming a little faster.  
  
"This is the truth Lana," Clark said resting his forehead against hers. "The way I feel about you, that's the truth Lana, and it's the only thing that matters."  
  
"You're right Clark. Look, I don't know what's going to happen next, but I want you to know that I'll be here for you. I'll help you through whatever comes along; the same way you've always helped me."  
  
"Thanks Lana. It's actually a relief to be able to talk to someone other than my parents about this. I mean, they are always there, but they don't always understand."  
  
"Well Clark, let's go for a walk and you can tell me the everything, I have a lot more questions I want answers to."  
  
Clark took Lana's hand and started walking toward the door. Smiling he said, "Somehow that doesn't surprise me, Lana. That doesn't surprise me at all."  
  
~~~  
  
A/N: The end! I hope that everyone liked it. This was my first time publishing a fanfic so I hope it was good. Anyway, feel free to review and let me know what you thought. I have some more ideas on stories so there are more to come! 


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